HEBREW WORD STUDY – A GOD TO US – ‘ELINU אלינו  Aleph Lamed Yod Nun Vav

I Samuel 4:3: “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?  Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”

I am sure you heard the old story about an airliner that was about to crash and the flight attendant pleaded over the intercom for any clergy on board to do something religious.  A Catholic priest prayed the Our Lord, a rabbi recited the Shama’ and a Charismatic preacher collected an offering.”   

Some translations will render this verse: “Why has the Lord let the Philistines defeat us.”  However, according to Jewish rabbis the nominative is God not Philistines and hence we should render this as: “Why did God defeat us?  Israel was shocked that God had let them down. I am surprised too, the only sin that is mentioned is with the house of Eli and his corrupt sons running the worship services. Is God punishing the whole nation because of the sins of the religious leadership? Perhaps the next move by Israel is a clue as to the heart of the nation which shows they were no better than their leadership.

The elders said: “Let us take the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us.”  The word for take or fetch is laqach which is taking possession or control of something that is not rightfully yours. It has a paragogic Hei which means that they took it under the protest of Eli the High Priest, they stoled it. Added to that the word: elinu which is rendered as unto us but we have a sort of play on words because we could render this as “a god to us.” In other words they were saying they would seize control of the ark of the covenant to be a god for them. Then they said “that it might save us.” Some translations will say that “he might save us.” Indeed there is no neuter pronoun in Hebrew, but the syntax does suggest that the elders are saying “it” the ark of the covenant and not “He” or God will save us. There is an old movie called Raiders of the Lost Ark where the premise is that Adolph Hitler was seeking to find the Ark of the Covenant believing his armies would be invincible with it. The whole would appear ridiculous to us. Yet, if the true ark were found how many people would worship it, seek to touch it believing they would be healed of any disease. 

Think about it. The most sacred object in the land, the object where the very presence of God rested became an idol, a god.  They knew enough to know that the ark could only be carried by a priest and they either forced or most likely bribed the sons of Eli to carry the ark into battle. However, they did not know enough to know that it really didn’t matter for apparently the presence of God was not going to manifest itself at this time on the ark. The Midrash suggests that the nation of Israel was to consult the ark.  Apparently, they did not need to carry the ark into battle, only consult with God through it as to what to do in battle.  In other words, the elders had the right idea, but the wrong approach. 

I find in many churches today, well why throw rocks at the church, I will use myself as an example. In my own life when I enter into battle and get defeated and crawl back licking my wounds, I begin to ask: “God, why did you let me down?” Then just like Israel I go and seize the Ark. I start to carry my Bible around, I make sure I read it every day, I read prayers by people who have been successful and I try to imitate their prayers making sure I follow the right procedure in my prayers.  I play only religious tapes and listen to only spiritual songs.  I begin praising and worshipping because I have heard that brings the power and presence of God. I am then ready to go back into battled. I now have the Ark with me and I am certain that “it” will save me, yet I end up suffering even a worst defeat.  

So what went wrong? I did all the right things. I did everything the preachers told me to do. I prayed prayers, good prayers, like those who had their answers.  I followed all the formulas and check lists to get my prayers answered, and nothing. What did I do wrong?  

Like Israel, I had the right idea, but the wrong approach. All my Bible study, my prayers, and all the religious things I performed did about as much good to keep the plane from crashing as the prayers and offerings of the clergy on the plane. All my good religious practices were elinu for me, or a god to me. They were used to bribe God but not to consult God. 

Sometimes the enemy can use even the most sacred thing in our lives to deflect us away from the heart of God. That little cross we carry in our pocket or around our necks become objects to ward off vampires and evils things rather than a serving as a simple reminder of the one we love.